Resonant shadeless desk



E. J. SMITH RES ONANT SHADELES S DESK June Z4, 1930.

Filed Sept. 2, 19727` w t. .n e 0 M Patented June 24, 1930 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE EDWARD J'. SMITH, OF CLEVELAND, .01110, ASSIGNOR T0 MARYE. SMITH, OF

, CLEVELAND, OHIO y l v j nEsoNAN'r snnnELEss DESKy Applicationled'september 2, 1927. Serial No. 217,048.

This invention relates to resonant, shadeless desks, and more especiallyto shadeless desks` for the use of musicians who desire a clear,positive light directed uponV their music sheets, and yet wouldavoid'rays of light from thel desk/extending toward the audience,Without the objectionable `glare arising from unprotected light bulbs,and yet without an equally objectionable shade of portions of the deskupon the sheets, which latter shade tends to give portions of the sheetsfar more .light than others, such inequality of .intensity of light raysbeing annoying to the musician, if not deceptive in the character ofsymbols shown on the sheet. It is a particular object of myvinvention toprovide such a desk that shall be complete in every detail, the lampshaving no shades and yetv being concealed within the enclosed frame andretaining open lighting for the portions of pages or objects desired tobeV illuminated. Such desirable result is attained with my structuretogether with positive control of the light Without individual shades.

It is a further object of my invention that I am able to exclude lightfrom the floor upon which the desk rests and from the audience, thoughthe illuminated surface within the upper portion of the, desk is so welllighted directly from these shadeless lamps.

A further object of my invention lies in the provision of ashell-likedesk having a front plate substantially parallel With the rear plate,and spaced therefrom sufficiently to receive a music rack therebetween,though the frcnt plate has an opening cut out to enable the musician tosee clearly the music Within, though the light bulbl lighting the rackis shaded to avoid throwing light outside the desk.

A still further advantage is the unitaryy a sort of shelf beneath thesupportingmusic 4 rack within and providing an outside surface for smallobjects which `the musician or artist'may desire to have at his readyconvenience.

The enclosed music rack above the said shelf device having all theadvantages of the more simple and less convenient music stand, presentsa lighted surface at the proper angle to vthe eye of the user andconfines the light rays from such surface to the desired direction.

The inventiony further consists in the novel construction, adaptationand combination of parts, as will be vhereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved shadeless stand as viewedfrom the front;

Figure 2 is a Vertical section substantially kcentral of the stand;

Figure 3 is a perspective and detail View of the edge strip attached ltothe protuberance adjacent the lamp bulb, and

Figure t is a perspective view of the stand shown from the rear, andparts of the upper left hand portion being broken away to show theinterior more clearly. i

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that 4my shadeless, resonantdesk or stand comprises a hollowl standof a shell-like wall 5 andincluding a supporting base 6 having a rectangularlow'er portion 7, anupper lighting portion V8, '1 and a connecting neck portion 9, all suchportions being unitary. The rear plate 10 is continuous for the upperand lower portions, and the front plate 11 is substantially parallelwith the rear plate, but has cut out therefrom the upper front portionto serve as the light opening 12 in the hollow stand.V

The upper portion 8, considered in a vertical plane, is oval in shapevhaving its major anis in a horizontal direction, and its minor axis ina vertical direction. The said front opening 12 of the plate 11 'isapproximately oval in shape resembling generally the eX- t'ernal form ofthe upper portion 8, except that an elongated notch 13 is cut out of theupper edge of said opening 12, thereby forming at the notched points 14,rather conspicuous protuberances 15 whose purpose will be explainedlater. The plates and 11 are equidistant throughout their extent, asshown in Fig. 2.

Lamps 16 are mounted upon the front plate 11 though on the inner surfaceof the 'said protuberances 15, so that the latter avoid projection oflight rays from the bulbs or lamps mounted upon them. These lamps arepivoted on such protuberances but on their inner surface, upon asuitable fixture to swing in a transverse plane oblique to the vertical,about midway between the vertical and horizontal, as shown in Figs. Sand4. These lamps are of the rather usual for-1n comprising a socket intowhich electric bulbs of standard form and size are detachably secured byscrew thread connection. The normal position of the bulb is that shownin Fig. 4 where the bulb is closely adjacent the surface of theprotuberance 15. The hinged mounting permits swinging the lamps 16 onits hinge 17 into the hollow portion 8, and to the rear of theprotuberance 15, in the position shown in Fig. 3, to permit'the readyremoval of the bulb 16. Such removal evidently can not well be madewhile the bulb is in contact with the protuberance, as shown in Figs. 2and 4.

The usual covered conductor 18 leads from the hinge 17 along the innersurface of the front plate 11 just inside the opening 12 and thencedownwardly beneath the shelf 19, where the conductors from both lamps 16meet at the pull chain switch 20, the common conductor leading from saidswitch down to the base 7 of the stand where it leads out through theaperture 21 to some suitable wall connection, not illustrated.

As a further protection of the protuberances which are of rather thinmaterial, the inner edge of such protuberances is provided with a metalplate 22 which is bent to conform to the edge, as shown in Fig. 3, suchplate being appreciably wider than the thickness of the plate 11 so thatits inner edge will project inwardly beyond the protuberance 15sufficiently to prevent light rays from the lamps 16 extending out intothe room. The tip 23 of the metal plate 22 is again bent in thedirection of the lengt-h of the plate to ht the upper edge of the notch13, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The so-called shelf or table 19 is approximately rectangular in form,but has two narrow notches 24 in the ends of the plate 19, which receivethe upper edge of the lower portion of the opening 12, in the mannerillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, so that the rear edge of the shelf 19contacts the rear plate 10 of the stand at 25V and is secured thereat.The forward portion of theshelf or table is H supported forward of thefront plate 11 of the stand and serves as a most convenient table orrest for additional sheets, such as special themes or incidental music.

Pivoted above the shelf 19 within the light portion 8 of the stand ismounted the music N rack 26 having the lower flange 27 substantially inthe plane of the opening 12, and having the width suitable to permit theraising of the flange 27 as the rack 26 swings on its pivot 28 on theback plate 10. The music rack has a low pitch of about by which theheight of the complete desk is lowered about ten inches below theaverage height of music desks of the enclosed type. The relativearrangement of the shelf 19 and rack 26 provides a very convenientstorage compart` ment 29 underneath the rack, such compartment beingespecially convenient for receiving therein extra scores or additionalmusic, accessories etc.

The feature just explained providing for the hinging of the rack 26 andthe consequent lowering of the entire standard makes it possible to seethe whole orchestra over the top of the desk at all times; and the rackbeing hinged at the top provides a means of raising the rack at 27 whileplacing an extra score in the compartment 29 under the rack 26.

The provision of the horizontal shelf 19 above the hollow base of thestructure furtherassists the resonant qualities of the base 6, theopening 30 in the front plate 11 further enhances the value of theresonant stand which resembles in generic form the viol. This isespecially true since the stand is an integral structure. My structureembodies therefore a very desirable combination of resonance because ofthe character of the hollow wall forming the same, the lower half of thestand being closed except at the opening 80, the arrangement of thelampsy 16 behind the protuberances 15 so that the light is excluded fromthe floor and also from the audience; the provision of the rack hingedat the top resulting in the storage compartment 29, such combinationresulting in a large desk enclosure having two shadeless lamps concealedin the forward part of the enclosure so that the lamps are effective inlighting the interior of the compartment 81 above the rack 26.

Evident advantages result, including the lamps without shades therebyproviding more light with less electric current than the usual type oflighting where a shade is provided, and yet provides better light forthe musicians, because the light is confined so completely to the musicsheet; and yet when the stand is mounted in a darkened room, the flooraround the stand will be darkened even closely adjacent thereto. Thearrangement of parts is such therefor as to provide in reality one largeshade enclosing two lampsand one music rack in the upper ioo part, and aresonant chamber in the base 6 which has acoustic properties whichincrease the volume and broaden the tone of orchestral instruments.

lVhile I have illustrated what I believe to be the best form of myinvention, and have illustrated details of construction which arepeculiarly adapted to needs of the case, I do not wish to be limited tothese details, as some features thereof may be modied without departingfrom the spirit of the invention.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A hollow desk orstand having a front opening in its upper portion and an horizontalshelf in a plane with the lower part of said opening, and shadelesslamps in the upper portion of the stand adjacent the upper part of saidopening, and projecting portions of the front edges of the openingextending outside the said lamps and thereby confining the light fromthe lamps to the interior of the stand.

2. A hollow stand comprising spaced and parallel front and rear plates,the upper portion of the front plate having an approximately ovalopening therein, shadeless lamps on the inner surface of said frontplate adjacent the upper part of said opening, the edges of the frontplate about the said opening having projecting spaced protuberances forshielding the inner lamps, a rack pivoted to the back plate in the upperportion of the stand so that it rests in an oblique plane facing thesaid opening, so that the light from said lamp will be cast upon saidrack but will not be thrown out through said opening.

3. A hollow desk or stand having in its upper portion, a closed backplate and a front plate having an opening therein, the front platehaving inwardly projecting portions adjacent the upper edges of saidopening, lamps mounted pivotally upon the rear surface of saidprojecting portions so that the light therefrom is prevented from beingcast outwardly through said opening, the pivots of said lamps permittingswinging ot the latter in a plane at an angle to the said front plate,to permit changing bulbs in electric lamp sockets, means in the lowerpart oi the upper portion for supporting music or other sheets thereon,and conductor strands leading from said sockets along the inner surfaceof the stand walls, and including a suitable switch device just belowthe upper portion and a connector means for detachable connection withwall sockets.

4. A hollow stand having a base portion connected by a reduced neckportion, with an upper portion having a front opening approximately ovalshaped and bordered by an irregular frame portion, the latter having aprojecting portion extending into the said opening, and a lamp pivotallymounted on the rear surface of said projecting p0rtion, so thatthelatter will conline the light from the lamp to the interior of the standF my hand and seal this twentieth day of July, l

1927. EDWARD J. SMITH.

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